


Checkmate

by The_Creative_Carrot



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-06
Updated: 2019-09-06
Packaged: 2020-10-11 07:08:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20542106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Creative_Carrot/pseuds/The_Creative_Carrot
Summary: "You can stop gawping at me Fleet Feet."She woke up cold. Broken. Alone, needing someone to help her control the monster and demons that threatened her.Then Bartholomew Henry Allen waltzed into her life.He made her whole again, piece by piece.





	1. Prologue

**December 7th 2013: The day the first particle accelerator exploded**

Barry Allen gazed at his board in the CCPD crime lab, the space covered with evidence from his mother's case. He sighs deeply, feeling the all-too-familiar helplessness that came with not proving his father's innocence all these years, despite the resources at his disposal.

The rain showered heavily on the lab skylights, small puddles of water starting to form in the lab as he gazed on, not really paying attention to the reporter outside STAR Labs on the night of the oh-so-coveted particle accelerator launch.

Suddenly, the news reporter on his computer screen started speaking rather urgently, expressing that everyone has been told to evacuate the facility as the accelerator exploded, the city being pummeled into darkness due to power shortages.

Barry stared in horror as a wave of energy erupted into the sky, spreading outwards exponentially.

He ran to the skylight, pulling the chains then staring in amazement as the chemicals around his lab started floating, much like how his late-mother experienced with her wine glass on the night of her murder.

Of course, Barry didn't know that.

Everything fell silent for a split second, then a lightning bolt struck the forensic scientist, the force of the strike pushing him backwards into a shelf littered with various chemicals.

As he lost consciousness, Barry didn't think about any other people affected by the invention gone horribly wrong, and he had no idea of how his life would never be the same again.

**A few minutes before, in Mercury Labs**

Zara Evans looked outside of her newly-acquired laboratory and gazed at the clouded sky. Although Starling had been her home, Central City held a different vibe within its limits and through the unfamiliar streets, she could feel it.

She held the semi-full hydrochloric acid bottle in her hand, slowly adding the acid it to her test tube as part of her experiment. She was supposed to be writing a report on how the cancer cells were responding to the newly concocted drug her team had created, but with the exciting particle accelerator turning on and potentially changing the laws of physics, she wasn't in the mood for paperwork.

The light was dim in the lab where she worked and the news reporter rambled on about how the particle accelerator was a controversial issue until alarms could be heard from the screen.

"We are being told to evacuate the city..."

The power cut out, the city pummeling into darkness.

She gazed in horror as a wave of energy from the accelerator erupted into the sky and started to come towards her exponentially.

She scrambled towards the nearest exit of the lab, to find the door had locked on the outside.

"Shit! Come on, come on!" She tugged at the door handle, desperation clouding her judgement.

That was when the acid and various other reagents in the lab started floating. She stared, not one explanation forming in her mind for what she is seeing.

"What the fuck...?"

She ran towards the window, grasping the metal handle to close it shut when a bolt of silver lightening struck her.

She was knocked back, her back hitting the shelf with chemicals, a sharp jolt travelling up her spine.

She lost consciousness as well, no idea that across town, a certain forensic scientist had been struck at exactly the same time.

Their worlds would never be the same and fate had a funny way of intertwining two seemingly random people with one higher purpose.

They certainly would be seeing each other a lot more often.

\----  
**2 weeks later  
Central City Infirmary**

Felicity Smoak sat by the bed occupied by her best friend Zara. Ollie would have come but with a surprise appearance from a new criminal, The Count, he was being kept busy back in Starling.

She looked down at her lap, tears rolling down her cheeks.

Today was the day that they would pull the plug on her best friend. The EKG machine displayed no sign of Zara being alive these last 2 weeks and so the doctors gave Felicity the decision on what date to do it.

Felicity decided to plead with her friend one last time. "Come on Zara. Open your eyes. We need you. Ollie needs you. He misses you being in the field. I need my best friend back. Please come back to me Zara. Please."

The doctors and 2 nurses started to pile into the dark hospital room, pitying looks plastered on each of their faces. Being around Ollie a lot meant that Felicity could tell what people were really feeling. Right now, the doctors didn't give a shit about what will happen to Zara; they're just happy there will be one extra bed for another patient to use in this busy ward.

The lead doctor came over to the blonde and hesitantly put his hand on her shoulder. "It's time."

She just nodded and reached over to the plug before pulling it, the life support machine stopping and silence enveloping the room. 

Felicity collapsed back into the chair she used earlier, hoping and praying to whatever higher power there is for just one miracle while the doctors began walking around the room, clearing up equipment when necessary.

Then the impossible happened.

Zara opened her eyes.


	2. Enter Zoom

**Time skip to the present  
Mercury Labs**

"Clara, where is your report?"

"Coming ma'am!"

"It should have been finished on my desk this morning!"

The scientist, named Clara, rushed into Zara's office. "Sorry ma'am, with that black hole incident, the traffic has been a nightmare."

Zara sighed. "Clara, that excuse has been used every day for the last 2 weeks. What would make you think that I would let you get away with missing deadlines for 2 weeks in a row? With an overused excuse? An excuse about an event that happened 6 months ago?"

Clara hung her head, knowing that she had made a mistake that could have lost her job.

Zara pointed her index finger at her colleague, her black nail-polish shining in the fluorescent lighting. "One more chance Adams: you better have that report on my desk first thing in the morning! Now get out of here."

Clara nodded vigorously, profusely expressing her thanks before seeing herself out of the office.

Zara tilted her head back. Ever since she had been struck by lightening a little under 2 years ago, her life had changed for the better. Though she hadn't used her powers to help others like the Flash, she had control over her speed and was slowly improving her skills on hiding her powers from ordinary people.

That, however, had gone out of the window when the singularity had formed 6 months ago. She had helped the Flash and the burning man to stop the black hole, though one half of F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M had gone missing since then. Of course, she knew who the Flash was, duh, she wasn't that stupid, but she had made sure that he didn't know her identity.

In hindsight however, having an extra tight drawstring secured on her hoodie wasn't one of her brightest ideas.

She hadn't helped the Flash, or Barry Allen as he was known to his friends, since then and gradually the public interest in the silver speedster died down.

The news suddenly changed to a very demonic speedster holding up the Flash in the air. Zara quickly turned up the volume, shock coming over her features.

Zoom looked at him through his mask, a sly grin forming on his face. "Look at your hero." He then holds Barry up and a lot of camera shutters clicking is heard.

"This man is no god." There is a pause, seeming to last forever.

"He is nothing!"

He then sped out of the camera's vision and Zara turned the screen off.

_Barry... what has he done to you?_

After checking through the windows of her office to make sure no one saw, she quickly sped out of the building, her silver lightning trailing behind her.

She knew that Barry would back in S.T.A.R. Labs by now so she immediately sped to the laboratory and towards the cortex, hovering just outside the entryway and peeking in.

Zoom's voice was heard once again. "Harrison Wells, you thought you could defeat me with this?"

He paused to lift over the Flash's cowl, revealing Barry with gashes and dried blood on his face.

Harrison Wells gulped. "I made a mistake."

Zoom nodded. "Yes a costly one."

Zara covered her mouth in shock as Zoom stabbed Barry, everything suddenly going into hyper-speed.

"NOOOOO!!!!" She screamed, as everything else, even Zoom, stayed still.

Suddenly, time resumed again, as Zoom rose Barry higher in the air. "Goodbye, Flash. You, too, weren't fast enough."

Cisco shot Zoom with a tranq dart, making Zoom drop Barry and fall to his knees.

Zara took that opportunity to speed in and check Barry's response. Everyone exclaimed in shock, except Zoom, who just stared.

"A new speedster. Interesting." He growled at Harrison then sped off, leaving papers flying in his wake.

Harrison ran outside the cortex, shouting.

Noticing the new meta by Barry's side, Cisco was the first to speak. "Who the hell are you?"

Zara spoke quickly. "Cisco, focus. Barry is dying and I need Caitlin's help. We need to bring him into the med bay and sedate him so he can heal quickly without being in pain."

"Barry, stay with me." Caitlin begged him as she checked him over.

They quickly shifted him into the med bay as Harry walked back into the cortex. As they let Barry heal on his own after putting him in a neck brace, Zara squeezed his hand.

"Stay with me, Barry. You can't go just yet."

_I won't let you._

\-----  
**Later on...**  
**S.T.A.R Labs**  
Zara had fallen asleep by Barry's side but quickly arose due to commotion coming from the entrance to the med bay.

"Whoa, what's going on?"

Joe held Harry by his neck. "This is all you! If Barry dies, you die."

Caitlin tried to reason with the cop. "Joe, Barry's vitals have stabilised. Just let him go."

"No Caitlin."

Zara stood up, "Why? What good does that do for Barry?"

Joe growled. "It's gonna help me." He then turned to Zara. "Who exactly are you?"

Zara set her jaw, fighting an urge to punch the detective. "Zara Evans. If it wasn't for me, Barry wouldn't have survived the singularity a year ago, or the battle against Zoom, _detective._"

Everyone, save Harry, who ignored her, stared at her in shock. "You're the silver speedster?"

Zara shrugged in response.

Joe was going to add something when Cisco spoke up. "Joe stop. Who's Jesse?"

Harry looked mildly shocked at the mention of his daughter. "How do- Jesse's my daughter. Zoom has her. You've- You did vibe me."

"Yes." Cisco nodded.

"What did you see?"

"I saw your daughter. She was with Zoom."

"But she's alive?"

"Yeah."

Joe looked even more exasperated than before. "Zoom sent you here like the others? You kill the Flash, and you get your daughter back?"

Harry now looked exasperated. "The only way I get my daughter back is, I capture Zoom. Do you understand? You love Barry. I love my daughter. And none of these children are safe as long as Zoom is here. I tried on my Earth to capture him. I failed. I thought I could bring him down here with Barry's help. I was wrong."

Zara spoke up. "This tension isn't gonna help Barry heal any faster. So how about we calm down and let Barry have a say when he wakes up?"

Everyone walked off, and Zara visibly relaxed into the chair next to Barry, just waiting for him to wake up.  
\------  
**Later on....**  
"Guys, I think he's waking up."

Zara then backed off, getting ready to go.

Cisco turned to her. "Aren't you gonna stay?"

Zara shook her head. "I've stayed here too long. I shouldn't be here when Barry wakes up." She then passed him a card with a number written on the back.

"I will help you to stop Zoom. Any time you need me, just ring the number."

Cisco nodded and waved as she sped off, the silver lightning glowing as she went, before looking at Barry.

Caitlin tapped Barry on his arm. "Barry. Barry? Can you hear me?"

Barry spoke, voice raspy from being unconscious for so long. "Hey."

Cisco chuckled in relief. "You scared the crap out of us. You were gone for a long time."

Barry turned to Cait. "How bad is it?"

Caitlin smiled sadly. "Bad. If you didn't heal so quickly, I'd be very worried."

"Linda how is she?"

Cisco spoke this time. "She's fine. She's staying with some friends out in Coast City."

"What about that other girl?"

Cisco's eyes widened. "Wait you saw her?!?"

Barry nodded slightly. "I saw a glimpse of her right before Zoom... Where is she? Is she okay?"

Cisco nodded. "Yeah she's fine. She gave me her number in case we need her again. Barry, she's the silver speedster from the singularity incident."

Barry's eyes widened this time before asking the question he dreaded the answer to.

"Zoom?"

Cisco patted his leg. "Let's worry about Zoom when you're up and about, okay?"

Barry started a little, causing Cait to settle him back down. "Oh, no, you're staying put."

Cisco agreed with her. "Yeah, seriously, you got your ass kicked."

Barry turned to his friends with wide eyes, the girl slipping from his mind."No, guys, I can't feel my legs."

Cisco and Caitlin exchanged worried glances. "I can't feel my legs."


	3. Adjustment

**A week later... **  
**S.T.A.R Labs**  
Barry took a small step out of his arch-nemesis' wheelchair, being aided by both his adoptive father and sister.

"There we go Barry, that's it." Joe murmured words of encouragement, as did the rest of the team before Barry stumbled and he lowered himself back in the wheelchair.

Barry knew that he should be almost back to full speed by now, he could feel it. He knew that it was a psychological problem holding him back.

The memory of Zoom dragging him across the city, being powerless to stop him, just added to the guilt already present at bringing Linda into this mess and not being the hero the city needed.

His mind then wandered to the other girl who appeared the night that he fought Zoom. Though it was a little hazy, he could make out the voice of a girl as she quickly assessed him before he fell unconscious.

She has appeared since then, at least, as her alter ego, stepping in for Barry as he recovered this last week. She had the makings of a hero and seemed like a generally cheery person yet Barry could sense she had a troubled past. Sometimes, she would have a distant look in her eyes, one much like Barry had following his mother's murder. She would never come to the labs until Cisco had generously offered her a suit, then she usually stopped as far as the doorway to the cortex but not any further, almost afraid of running into Barry.

At least, that was what he thought about her.

Caitlin then addressed her patient as Barry still faced the MRI scans of his spinal cord. "Barry, you're almost ninety percent healed."

"Then why is it still hard to breathe?"

A new voice spoke up from the entrance of the cortex. "Like Caitlin said Barry, you've just had a spinal injury, one that would cause most people to end up paralyzed for the rest of their lives. You're lucky to have healed this quickly."

Everyone turned to face her, Barry staring at her in shock and confusion.

Cisco explained quickly to the rest of the group. "She's the one who helped you Barry. I called her to keep an eye on your injuries as well as Caitlin. We could use all the help we can get."

Caitlin rose an eyebrow. "My judgement isn't enough, Cisco?"

Cisco's eyes widened. "No that's not what I meant... You know what, I'm just gonna shut up now."

He then sat down and busied himself with one of the computers scanning for criminal activity - meta or otherwise - easily sensing the tension in the room.

Barry still stared at the girl in shock as he went into hyper-speed and analyzed her.

She wad clad in the suit that Cisco had made for her; much like his own but instead of the crimson leather, hers was grey with off white accents and sides and instead of the cowl to mask his identity, her suit had a separate grey mask. She had scraped back her hair into a tight ponytail, her curls bouncing when she walked. Barry couldn't deny that she was pretty but the voice of reason at the back of his head warned him to stay on guard. He had just met her, he shouldn't be checking her out, right?

As that thought came into his head, time resumed as normal, though Zara was giving Barry a strange look.  
Barry looked at her blankly but she smirked. _I did see you Barry, analyzing me. Do you like what you see?_

"What are we gonna do about Zoom?" Zara spoke up, trying to not chuckle at Barry's even more confused gaze and the weird looks his adoptive sister, Iris was giving her. 

Caitlin responded. "No sign of him in the city since Cisco nailed him with that tranq dart."

Cisco added on. "And I haven't vibed since then." Zara looked at him in confusion, though Cisco ignored her and made a mental note to explain to her about his powers.

Iris looked a little too hopeful. "Maybe Zoom's not coming back."

Wells walked in, holding his gun. "I highly doubt that. Which is why I'm gonna go do something about it."

Cisco looked confused. "What do you mean, go do something about it?"

Wells stated simply, "I need access to your breach room and your speed cannon."

Barry looked confused as well. "Why is that?"

Wells turned to him. "Because, Barry, it's time to go home."

Joe wasn't liking this situation at all. "So, you show up on our Earth, you screw everything up, and now you want to go home? Sounds very familiar."

Zara nodded along in agreement. Wells sighed. "Again, that wasn't me. I need to go take care of Zoom once and for all before anyone else gets killed."

Iris questioned this time, "How do you plan on doing that?"

Wells countered back. "I'll think of something. Ramon, if you'll escort me to the speed cannon."

Caitlin walked up to him. "No, no, you can't go through the breach."

Cisco followed. "Yeah, he can. Jay taught us how to send people."

"That's not what I mean. Look, if you can figure out how to stop Zoom on your Earth, you can figure out how to do it here. We need you to stay here until we defeat Zoom, Dr. Wells." Cait countered back.

Wells looked exasperated again. "What I need, Dr. Snow, is to return home. And I'm going to that with or without your assistance."

Once Wells had walked off, Cait turned to Cisco, who looked super confused. "What are you doing? If Harry wants to go, bye."

Cait sighed. "Look, like it or not, Cisco, we need his help."

Joe was unsure. "I'm not sure another plan from Wells is what we need."

Iris spoke up, in agreement with her dad. "Yeah, I mean, the last bright idea he had nearly got Barry killed."

Zara spoke up this time. "I know I'm new here and my opinion probably doesn't count but they do have a point Dr. Snow. Who knows what could happen the next time that Barry follows one of his crazy plans? He could be much worse off."

"I know, but Jay's gone, and Dr. Wells knows Zoom better than anyone, so until Barry is back on his feet again and as much as Zara has been great at subbing in for him, we need to keep Wells around in case Zoom returns."

Barry glanced at the female speedster before looking back at Cait. "Caitlin, if he doesn't want to be here, then we're better off without him. Let him go."

Caitlin shook her head, before walking after Wells.

"I can't do that. Not yet."

Once she was out of sight, Zara clasped her hands together, inwardly wondering what she had missed when she had hacked their personal files in the government database, including the identity of this 'Jay' character. "Well, since there's no meta attack, I'm gonna go for a run - a normal run."

Then an alarm started beeping in the cortex.

Zara rolled her eyes. "Guess I spoke too soon."

Cisco, after seeing what it was, talked it off. "Oh, that's just a reminder for me."

Barry was confused. "What reminder? For what?"

Zara speed-read the reminder and then jumped up and down excitedly. "He's got a date! Who is she? Is she hot? Can I go spy on her?"

Cisco looked at her incredulously, while everyone else was gobsmacked. "She's the lovely Kendra Saunders, the new barista at Jitters and no, you absolutely cannot." He finished, all the while pointing at her with his index finger.

Zara pouted then changed into her civilian clothes, composing of a lab coat over a navy blue dress that dropped just past her knees, paired with blue flats and a navy blue purse hoisted on her shoulder over her white coat.

"Oh, she makes a mean latte. I think we're gonna go out for dinner and a movie, and then, I don't know, maybe some breakfast." Cisco listed off.

"Wait, breakfast? Why breakfast? I don't..." Barry teased Cisco.

"Yeah..." Iris trailed off, her curiosity pipped as well.

"'Cause, you know, you go home -"

Joe chuckled. "Cisco. He's messing with you."

Barry waved him off, a teasing grin on his face. "Go."

Cisco then briskly walked out, not liking the odds of teasing against him if he screws the date up.

Zara pouted again at his retreating back. "Well, I have a job at Mercury Labs beckoning me so I'm gonna go. My work never sleeps!"

"Zara, I just wanted to say thanks, for helping save my life. I owe you one."

She looked down at Barr, before smiling faintly. "Least I could do for all of the times you saved this city and no Barry, you don't owe me."

She then sped off, making papers go flying and Iris' hair to go in her face.

Caitlin came back and sighed. "I need more paperweights in here."

Barry's phone then buzzed. He glanced at the caller ID. "It's Patty." He wheeled himself into an adjacent room, away from prying eyes and ears.  
\-----  
**Mercury Labs**  
Zara sped back into her office, no papers flying in her wake due to the immense amount of paperweights she had in the room.

After quickly finding her secret stash of high energy bars that Cisco concocted and resting her bag on her desk, she sat down, happy to see the much needed report from Clara sitting on the plywood table, along with a note.

_Hello Ma'am,_  
_This is the report you wanted. Once again, truly sorry for the delay._  
_Regards,_  
_Clara Adams_

"Well, you get to keep your job a bit longer Adams." She whispered to herself before walking out of the office and to the labs to meet a new lab tech, all the while wondering about a certain speedster she had just met in STAR Labs.  
\-----  
**Earth 2**  
**Zoom's lair**  
Zoom strode around his lair, clad in a simple t-shirt and jeans. Jesse didn't stop screaming last night and had just quietened down, a few moans and whimpers escaping her lips now and again.

After almost killing Barry, he had took his his 'anger' out on Wells' daughter, 'angry' that the Flash still existed on Earth-Prime, the centre of all the multiverse.

At least, that's what he growled at Jesse.

His plan, or rather his boss's plan, was playing out perfectly. One day, that earth will fall and be under the rule of him and his queen and Hell will be brought down on anyone who stood in their way.

Especially Barry Allen and that no-gooder Zara Evans.

God, he couldn't wait to mess with her. But, he would be patient, as his queen instructed.

After all, earth domination has no deadline or schedule to adhere to.

Soon after, there was an echo heard behind him and Zoom turned around to see his queen stride up to meet him.

"Everything is going well, I trust?" She asked faintly, though Zoom was wary of her behaviour; ever since Barry had opened the breaches to the multiverse, she has been temperamental: some days she would be barking orders to their metahuman army, almost snapping their necks but other times she would be mildly pleasant and okay to be around. Those were the days were she would seem a lot more like her weak Earth-1 counterpart, though he never said this out loud for fear of their relationship straining and his life on the line.

He gave a slight bow, though never letting his guard down. "Yes, all is going as planned. It won't be long until we bring that earth on its knees."

Her steely gaze turned icy and Zoom lowered his gaze further to the stone cold floor. "Just their earth? What about the infinite earths in the multiverse? Are they beyond our reach and understanding?"

She then spat at the ground. "Or are you too cowardly to broaden your horizons beyond that earth which will fall to its knees like this one?"

_Barry and Zara, _he thought, _if you thought I was bad, you've got another thing coming._

He snuck a glance sideways, seeing her slightly mad expression back at him.

_You've got no chance._

She clapped her hands loudly, the sound echoing in the cave. "Come on, let's go. I would like to make a visit to our prisoners - guests." She giggled excitedly as she walked, Zoom following her: her forever loyal puppet.

"It's been a while since I heard Jesse scream."


	4. Zara's Head Hurts

After a long and tedious day at Mercury Labs, filled with paperwork and more filing in her office, Zara was hoping for a quiet, crime-free night. Sadly, the universe was not on her side.

At around 7pm, there came a call from Cisco.

Zara frowned at her device since he never called someone when he could text unless it was urgent so she quickly picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Get to 6th and Porter as fast as you can. We're in some metaphorical deep shit and Barry needs your help."

"On my way."

She had took her backup suit with her to work so without a moment's hesitation, she sped into the leather and ran out of the labs.

When she got to the intersection, she skidded to a stop next to Cisco and Harry by a peculiar contraption. Harry involuntarily shuddered at the girl before him, knowing that on his earth, Zara Evans was anything but a law abiding citizen.

Zara ignored the astonished look Wells was giving her and turned to the Hispanic acquaintance by her side, veins crackling with speed, ready to be used.

Cisco spent a moment checking some stats then turned to her.

"Right, when Harry flips the switch for the machine that is gonna help us stop Grodd - the deep shit I was taking about - you need to speed Caitlin away, who's the bait. Barry may need some help with kicking that sucker back to Earth-2 so standby and be ready as soon as possible."

Zara nodded inconceivably, although the last part both excited and troubled her. "Earth-2? The multiverse theory is legit?"

Cisco's mouth gaped, as realization dawned on him. "You weren't there were you? I'll fill you in later. Its show time."

Caitlin shouted to the rooftop, her voice echoing with the acoustics of the mainly deserted street. "Grodd! I know you're there."  
The gorilla then jumped down from rooftop and landed a metre away from Caitlin, eyes filling with nothing but rage.

Zara inwardly gasped with horror at the 10-foot gorilla literally standing before her.

She couldn't stop staring at it. "You are seeing this right?"

Cisco nodded, slightly star-struck while Harry kept his slightly-irritated face on.

Zara saw Barry, who was wheezing and coughing on the ground. She adjusted her posture, sensing that she would be needed very soon.

She turned her focus back onto Caitlin and Grodd, understanding straight away that Caitlin had grown fond of the oversized-highly-dangerous gorilla.

"I can give you what you want. I can give you a home. You just have to trust me." She was distracting him, making him step into the chalk-drawn circle on the asphalt.

Harry tensed, as did Zara.

"All right, here he comes. Ready to flip the switch."

Cisco flipped the switch and quark matter started to swirl in the air towards Grodd.

"Now Zara!"

Zara quickly sped towards Caitlin before grabbing her and speeding her a few metres away. She stood by the doctor as she watched Grodd getting pulled back into what she could only describe as a portal, Barry joining her a few seconds later.

She held her breath as Grodd started to resist the pull against the breach.

Barry quickly listened to something in his ear and turned to her. "Wanna kick gorilla ass?"

She nodded, as he readied himself. "Then keep up."

As he set off, she sped after him, yellow and purple streaks of lightening trailing as they zipped through the streets.

As Barry reached an intersection, he took a sharp U-turn and sped back towards the chaos. Zara followed, having a fair idea of what's gonna happen next.

They soon after reached the intersection where the rest of Team Flash were. Barry immediately socked Grodd in the jaw, pushing the gorilla back towards the breach.

Zara kicked the gorilla straight in the stomach then quickly sped away and watched as Grodd fell through and the breach closed.

Cisco came to congratulate the two speedsters and when he came to Zara, she put on her best scolding look.

"Francisco Ramon, you better explain to me what the fuck is going on. Starting with the multiverse theory being true and that incredibly astonished look that Wells 2.0 keeps giving me."

Cisco nodded vigorously, as the team made preparations to head back to the lab.  
\-----  
**STAR Labs**  
To say that Zara found this confusing was an understatement.

"So to sum it up, the singularity that you guys opened in the middle of the sky caused 52 gateways to form between this Earth and the earth where Zoom is from?"

"Yep." Cisco chimed.

"And now Zoom has been here and kicked Barry's ass, I can safely assume that he will continue to send his meta goons to kill the Flash? "

"Yep." Barry didn't really like the last part.

Zara smacked her forehead. "Shit. My head hurts." Then she groaned. "And I've put myself high on Zoom's hitlist by helping you guys last time."

"Ugh, didn't think of that one." Caitlin visibly cringed.

Zara them pointed to Wells 2.0. "That still doesn't explain why the doppelganger of the Reverse-Flash cannot stop oogling at me."

Wells looked agitated by that. "Well, Zara Evans, on my earth, you were one of Zoom's main allies. And public enemy no. 2."

He then pulled up a file. "Zara Zolomon, also known as the Striker. Orphaned at 12 due to a car accident. No living relatives so got put in the system. Not great childhood according to the limited information we have on her.

"Got her powers from the Particle Accelerator, like Zoom. She was a hero like the Zara on this earth but was easily persuaded by Zoom to start a life of crime."

Zara wasn't phased. "How bad could she possibly be?"

Wells pulled up another article, which caused the colour to drain from her face.

Cisco whistles. "30 counts of murder? In one night?"

Wells looked grim. "She killed every person in a nearby orphanage - the same place where Zoom found her in the first place."

Barry looked confused. "Wait, you said 'were'. Where is she now?"

Wells closed the file. "No one knows. Striker disappeared the same day Garrick did so presumably..."

Zara paled even more. "...she found her way here. Just great."

"Although , there were a few reports of a purple speedster zipping around the city on Earth-2. So she could be in hiding." Wells countered.

Barry sighed. "Either way, we have two supervillains to worry about. "

Zara sighed and turned to the scarlett speedster. "I'm guessing you need all the help you can get."

Barry then shrugged in response, not eager to accept help from an innocent stranger that just happened to have powers like his.

"Do you know combat training?"

Barry inwardly winced at the memories of training with Oliver.

Zara smirked. "I know Felicity works with the Arrow. She did talk about you getting shot in the back as well as the double missions you did with her team."

Barry rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "So you know then I have no proper combat training experience?"

Zara headed towards the exit of the Cortex. "Meet me in the STAR Labs basement tomorrow afternoon when your shift ends."

She then sped back to her apartment, her mind reeling with the possibility of tackling a literal speed demon.  
\-----  
**Later on....**  
**STAR Labs **  
Wells walked through Star Labs, the tachyon scanner in his watch beeping as he got closer to the Time Vault that Thawne had used.

He soon found the scanner in the wall and opened up the secret door.

"Gotcha." He entered through the hole in the wall to find an exact replica of his own time vault, minus the storage supplies. This time vault had a futuristic podium near the front.

Wells waved his hand over the podium and came face to face with Gideon.

"Good evening Dr. Wells."

If he was startled, he didn't show it.

"Hello Gideon, tell me everything about Zara Evans."

There was a pause before the AI hologram spoke again.

"I'm sorry Dr Wells, almost all references on Zara Evans have been deleted."

Wells didn't seem phased. "By who?"

"Barry Allen, director of Central-"

Wells cut her off. "Date of last entry?"

Gideon sounded almost sad when she responded.

"May 23rd 2017."


End file.
